One of my lifelong dreams has been to travel to Europe. As an art history student in college I discovered the value of learning about other cultures through works of art. As I’d sit in class looking at the slides the professor would show in lectures or when I’d go to local museums, I’d dream about visiting the places where these works of art were made. I especially loved architecture and sculpture. I imagined myself standing in the nave of a gothic cathedral as candles flickered and music drifted through the air.

Alas, as many college students are, I was a poor student and never had the funds to go on the study abroad programs. After graduation I had to find a job and go to work. I still had my dreams of traveling to many distant countries, but had to put them on the back burner for awhile.

A few years later one of my co-workers shared with me how she loved to journal. Not just with words, but with pictures, too. She would collage in her journal many things, including her goals and dreams. So I pulled out my stack of travel magazines and the scissors and went to work. I created a simple two page collage with photos that inspired me about traveling. It was fun to put the pictures together and see the vision of my dream in color, right there on the pages.

In the fall of 2006 I happened to find a great internet special deal on a 10 night Mediterranean cruise. It departed from Rome, Italy and had seven stops. I almost didn’t care which ports our particular cruise went to as there were so many great places to go and this was our first trip. I was sure that wherever we went it would be wonderful. My husband was equally excited when he saw it, and we jumped at the chance.

We went to so many places – including historic sites and museums. When we entered the Duomo in Florence we were both speechless at the size and sheer beauty of this historic church. It can hold up to 30,000 people and is currently the fifth largest cathedral in the world!

Our favorite part of the trip was our two stops in the Greek Isles. We loved the laidback lifestyle, the beautiful scenery, great food and friendly people. A we walked down the winding narrow streets in a village on the island of Mykonos, every corner we turned revealed a postcard quality scene. It was a wonderful experience.

Several weeks after returning home from our trip I happened to open up my journal. I realized that by committing my dream to paper, and visualizing it, perhaps that helped in making this dream come true. Even more amazing was one of the pictures that I’d just happened to place in the journal. Right there in the lower right hand corner of this collage is a photo of Mykonos, Greece.